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The Western Pacific Railroad no longer exists. Years before, it had been taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad. The engine repair shops had been torn down. Only the mainline track and a few sidings remained. Many rows of track had been pulled up. Gone was the boneyard where Dale Maharidge met a hobo named No Thumbs (real name: Thomas Jefferson Glenn). Those acres of former rail yard were thick with overgrown grasses and weeds. The icehouse had been razed and was now a parking lot for a community college. There weren't even any hobos around. Up the line, a mile or so north, was the Sacramen...

The Western Pacific Railroad no longer exists. Years before, it had been taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad. The engine repair shops had been torn down. Only the mainline track and a few sidings remained. Many rows of track had been pulled up. Gone was the boneyard where Dale Maharidge met a hobo named No Thumbs (real name: Thomas Jefferson Glenn). Those acres of former rail yard were thick with overgrown grasses and weeds. The icehouse had been razed and was now a parking lot for a community college. There weren't even any hobos around. Up the line, a mile or so north, was the Sacramento Bee building. The newspaper still published good work, but both the staff and the physical size of the paper had shrunk. The odds would be against an editor sending Dale Maharidge and Michael S. Williamson out to ride the rails for six days to do a story on today's hobos and hard times.